Our Vision

In the spring of 2008 the Board of Directors Of St. Vincent de Paul Atlanta met at an off-site retreat and developed a new Vision Statement for our organization.  It reads:

 

The Vision of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Atlanta is to change the face of charity by offering hope as well as help to all through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Our Vision begins; “To change the face of charity…” What’s so powerful about those few opening words is that they are so deep and broad and inclusive. They incorporate things we are familiar with, like “Don’t just give someone a fish, but teach them how to fish” yet it also allows us to dream and look to those things that have not yet been thought of.  Bobby Kennedy used to say “Some men see things as they are and ask why; I dream things that never were and say, why not?”  Our vision statement calls on us to dream things that never were and to develop ways to make them a reality.

Our Vision continues “…by offering hope as well as help to all…” There are some key concepts in these nine words.  ‘Offering’ is one.  This acknowledges that we can’t give people hope.  Hope is an internally driven emotion.  We can no more give hope to someone than we can give them any other emotion.  But what we can do is change the circumstances in which they exist through help so that they will have an opportunity to have hope.  In order to have hope you must have faith.  And in order to faith you must have love.  Love comes to those in need from us through our help.  Our help, whether it be financial, material, educational, or spiritual (our mission) is what gives people faith that things will get better. And that leads to hope.  And finally   “…to all…” acknowledges that we are here for those of all backgrounds, faiths, and ethnicities.  We serve all his people.

And our Vision concludes “… through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.”   This acknowledges and celebrates our Catholic heritage and our commitment to the foundation of the Society.  It also acknowledges that it is God who directs what we do, not man.  We serve because we are called to serve and the Holy Spirit watches over and blesses our work.

We are about to begin the development of a new Strategic Plan in 2011.  That plan will help us to turn our vision into reality for the many people that we help every day here in Georgia.

John